Indian Lake has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
21 jobs are based in Indian Lake; 272 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Indian Lake D; getting around on foot earns it D−. 3% of workers work from home, against 13% across Missouri.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Indian Lake, in brief
Indian Lake is a place people come home to
There are 21 jobs based in Indian Lake, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
40% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Indian Lake workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 24 across Missouri. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 272 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Indian Lake’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Indian Lake is better than 12% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Indian Lake’s grade up ($71,354, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (27.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (16.3%) is left out: Indian Lake’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Indian Lake could be anywhere from D− to C+.
The daily flow of workers through Indian Lake
On a workday 270 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 19 people come in from elsewhere.
About 880 people are in Indian Lake on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Indian Lake
About 40% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 32 minutes each way for Indian Lake’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Indian Lake workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 221 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Missouri: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
19% of working residents work in Cuba
Where Indian Lake clocks in
19% of workers
6% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Indian Lake is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Indian Lake, 2013 → 2023: 51 → 21. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Indian Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most of Indian Lake commutes by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 227 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.1% of Indian Lake households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Indian Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
Indian Lake places 3,004th of 3,771 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Loch Lloyd MO | 1,090 | $184K | 2.5% | 0.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | LaBarque Creek MO | 1,457 | $133K | 1.1% | 1.7% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Fremont Hills MO | 1,098 | $171K | 3.9% | 1.9% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,002 | Monroe Township OH | 1,045 | $58K | 15.8% | 6.6% | 2% | D |
| 3,003 | Lunenburg VT | 1,266 | $53K | 10.6% | 9.0% | 1% | D |
| 3,004 | Indian Lake MO | 1,135 | $71K | 27.6% | 16.3% | 1% | D |
| 3,005 | Oakwood IL | 1,274 | $46K | 24.8% | 2.3% | 4% | D |
| 3,006 | Mount Gilead NC | 1,187 | $59K | 16.8% | 7.3% | 8% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Indian Lake, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Indian Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Indian Lake?
$71,354 (±$33,452) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Indian Lake?
27.6%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Indian Lake?
32 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Indian Lake work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cuba (19%, 4 mi), St. James (6%, 11 mi), Jefferson City (5%, 51 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Indian Lake walkable?
Indian Lake is more walkable than 3% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Indian Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Indian Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Indian Lake
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.